Zavien
Soh's hug felt like she was trying to keep the pieces of his heart from falling out of his chest, like she hoped she might stitch him back together or squeeze the fears and doubts from his body. He didn't mind, it eased some of the panic to feel her close, to hear her voice and feel the beat of her heart. It reassured him that his nightmares hadn't come true yet, that she was alright, safe in his arms.
He could sense her pain, could hear what he was doing to her, the burden he was placing on her after they'd just shared such an intimate, perfect moment. It ached, guilt and shame mingling with the anxieties. "I believe you," he said, trusting every word and promise she'd uttered, believing that she would do everything in her power to keep him from feeling more pain.
And yet, Zavien pulled back, finally looking into her eyes as he cradled her below him. "But Caido can be cruel and unpredictable." His gaze bore into her, intense and fully of dark memories swirling beneath. He shook his head, breath quickening around the emotion constricting his voice. "When Lena needed me most, I didn't even know she was in trouble," blissfully ignorant that his girlfriend was suffering all alone in the dark "and by the time I found her..." The words cracked, heavy as he admitted to the greatest failure of his life. "I was too late."
Sucking in a breath, he looked to her again, uncertain when he'd looked away. There was a slight frenzy in the way he spoke, the way his eyes scanned her face. "What if something happens to you? And I don't know or can't get to you?" Quieter, pained, he asked, "What if history repeats itself?" What if he was cursed and he was the reason she died?
He could sense her pain, could hear what he was doing to her, the burden he was placing on her after they'd just shared such an intimate, perfect moment. It ached, guilt and shame mingling with the anxieties. "I believe you," he said, trusting every word and promise she'd uttered, believing that she would do everything in her power to keep him from feeling more pain.
And yet, Zavien pulled back, finally looking into her eyes as he cradled her below him. "But Caido can be cruel and unpredictable." His gaze bore into her, intense and fully of dark memories swirling beneath. He shook his head, breath quickening around the emotion constricting his voice. "When Lena needed me most, I didn't even know she was in trouble," blissfully ignorant that his girlfriend was suffering all alone in the dark "and by the time I found her..." The words cracked, heavy as he admitted to the greatest failure of his life. "I was too late."
Sucking in a breath, he looked to her again, uncertain when he'd looked away. There was a slight frenzy in the way he spoke, the way his eyes scanned her face. "What if something happens to you? And I don't know or can't get to you?" Quieter, pained, he asked, "What if history repeats itself?" What if he was cursed and he was the reason she died?
If you don't like the road you're walking,
start paving another.
start paving another.
